Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes.

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.

I'm not a chef. I think in this country, we use the term very loosely. I'm a cook and a teacher.

But my favorite remained the basic roast chicken. What a deceptively simple dish. I had come to believe that one can judge the quality of a cook by his or her roast chicken. Above all, it should taste like chicken: it should be so good that even a perfectly simple, buttery roast should be a delight.

Good french cooking cannot be produced by a zombie cook.

Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.

...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.

Until I discovered cooking, I was never really interested in anything.

In France, Paul explained, good cooking was regarded as a combination of national sport and high art, and wine was always served with lunch and dinner. "The trick is moderation," he said.